Pages

Friday, September 4, 2009

Job losses

The job numbers for August are out. And they don't look good.
Unemployment is now at 9.7% -- the highest it's been since 1983.
The "underemployment rate" -- the unemployed rate plus part-time workers who prefer a full-time position plus people who want work but have given up looking for a job -- is at 16.8 percent, a record.
What does all this mean?
Obviously, nearly 1 in 10 Americans are out of work. But what else does it mean?
It means that the wrong people are losing their jobs.
We need to fire some elected officials. I'm thinking the entire Obama administration would be a good place to start. But then, I said don't hire those rascals to begin with. But did America listen to me? No. 52% of American voters went and did something stupid.
Oh, sure. They were frustrated. They didn't like how things were. But not putting any thought into a solution is a bad solution.
So, we have unemployment near 10%.
I think we ought to give Congress a 10% unemployment rate. That would mean 10 Senators losing their jobs. And 43 or 44 Representatives being sent packing.
Some say to throw them all out. But, as a Representative said yesterday, there are downsides to doing that. Remember, that's basically what happened to put Obama in office: a desire to get rid of who was there. They seemed to forget that Bush wasn't running for a third term. Stupid Obama voters.
So, which 10% of Congress should be unemployed?
Oh, I have some ideas.
Senators who are up for reelection in 2010:
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT)
Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY)
Specter, Arlen (D-PA)
Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)
Lincoln, Blanche L. (D-AR)
Representatives:
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Barney Frank (D-MA)
Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Corrine Brown (D-FL)
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL)
Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Jim Moran (D-VA)
...Oh heck, I could go on and on with Representatives. But I'd start with this group.
If 10% of Congress lost their jobs ... the most useless 10% ... then unemployment might not be a bad thing after all.
Imagine this group having to work for a living. Or even trying to find a job.